Oil spill off UAE coast prompts beach closures and raises concerns over desalination plants
Desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of potable water in the country. No plant shutdowns have been announced so far
An oil spill off the United Arab Emirates has prompted temporary restrictions on fishing and on access to several beaches, raising concerns over environmental contamination and questions about the potential impact on desalination plants.
The spill came from a vessel that was reportedly shipping crude oil. Officials there say the ship was struck by an unidentified projectile last month, but continued to be active. Repeated attacks on commercial vessels since the start of the US and Israeli war with Iran have heightened fears over the conflict’s environmental fallout.
Desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of potable water in the UAE, with major plants in Dubai and at Taweelah. Gulf desalination plants had already come under threat from direct hits earlier this year.
No shutdowns have been announced, and water experts said it was hard to assess the impact without more information on the extent of the spill.
Simon Boxall, a senior lecturer at the University of Southampton, said the damage depends on the type of oil and the volume. “Crude oil in particular is a natural product. And so crude oil will break down in the marine environment, particularly in the warm waters such as the Gulf, within a matter of a few weeks,” he said. He added that plants need to be shut down as soon as oil gets anywhere near them to avoid contamination.
Nidal Hilal, director of New York University Abu Dhabi’s Water Research Center, said spills can threaten desalination plants even when the oil does not physically reach them, with the principal vulnerability being the seawater intake. “For the UAE, where desalination is a cornerstone of drinking-water security, a key concern is whether the oil could reach seawater intakes and compromise the treatment process,” he said.
The 1991 spill also caused extensive shoreline contamination. “Decades on, we are still seeing problems with pollution from that particular incident,” Boxall said, but he noted that the UAE spill was not “anything of that scale.”